Open AccessDevelopment of the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit Network in North America
Author(s) -
Jerome A. Paulson,
Catherine J. Karr,
James M. Seltzer,
Debra Cherry,
Perry Sheffield,
Enrique Cifuentes,
Irena Buka,
Robert W. Amler
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2008.154641
Subject(s) - specialty , agency (philosophy) , unit (ring theory) , disease registry , environmental health , public health , medicine , occupational safety and health , environmental protection , business , disease , family medicine , geography , nursing , psychology , philosophy , mathematics education , epistemology , pathology
Training in environmental health in general, and pediatric environmental health in particular, is inadequate. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry began to develop pediatric environmental health specialty units (PEHSUs) after noting the dearth of practitioners who could evaluate and manage children with exposures to environmental health hazards. The Environmental Protection Agency subsequently joined in providing support for what has developed into a network of 13 PEHSUs in North America. PEHSUs provide services to families, act as consultants to clinicians and public agencies, develop educational materials, and respond to natural disasters, including hurricanes and wildfires. PEHSUs are relatively easy to organize and should be replicable internationally.